Zwischen den Stühlen
How do the identities of designers and users interact when it comes to chairs? A chair, while being sat upon, closely connects to the human body and, by doing so, in a sense it frames or categorizes it. Both designing a chair and occupying a chair can thus be regarded as a gesture of power — sexual, political, societal or otherwise. An example of an oppressive chair design is the executive chair, which is known to deliberately subdue its vis-a-vis. Many chairs we use today have been designed decades or even centuries ago, transporting traditional roles and habits concerning their design, production and usage into modern society. Does the viewpoint of the designer, here, collide with today’s users?
Within the framework of this practice based Ph.D. project, I observe and analyze both perspectives through the lens of gendered norms. A collection of interviews show how female designers deal with gendered norms in their practice and how these are reflected in their designs. Parallel to this, an autonomous and experimental series of chair models plays the personal counterpart. The section focused on sociological research introduces a public context and analzyes my participatory research trajectory amongst passengers of public transport vehicles in the German capital.
This diverse range of methods applies throughout the process is designed to address the multi-layered nature of furniture design, production and usage cycles and its gendered norms. Working on different levels simultaneously ensures that the matters underlying the concrete research questions will not be settled short-sightedly.
The design research process, equivalent to the design process, profits from a cross-disciplinary approach in tackling wicked problems and addressing taboo subjects.
How do the identities of designers and users interact when it comes to chairs? A chair, while being sat upon, closely connects to the human body and, by doing so, in a sense it frames or categorizes it. Both designing a chair and occupying a chair can thus be regarded as a gesture of power — sexual, political, societal or otherwise. An example of an oppressive chair design is the executive chair, which is known to deliberately subdue its vis-a-vis. Many chairs we use today have been designed decades or even centuries ago, transporting traditional roles and habits concerning their design, production and usage into modern society. Does the viewpoint of the designer, here, collide with today’s users?
Within the framework of this practice based Ph.D. project, I observe and analyze both perspectives through the lens of gendered norms. A collection of interviews show how female designers deal with gendered norms in their practice and how these are reflected in their designs. Parallel to this, an autonomous and experimental series of chair models plays the personal counterpart. The section focused on sociological research introduces a public context and analzyes my participatory research trajectory amongst passengers of public transport vehicles in the German capital.
This diverse range of methods applies throughout the process is designed to address the multi-layered nature of furniture design, production and usage cycles and its gendered norms. Working on different levels simultaneously ensures that the matters underlying the concrete research questions will not be settled short-sightedly.
The design research process, equivalent to the design process, profits from a cross-disciplinary approach in tackling wicked problems and addressing taboo subjects.